ICU acquired weakness

Today we want to give diffusion a Critical Care review about intensive care unit acquired weakness, one of the most frequent problems we see in our patients with long stays and which have sequels during a medium-long term.

It´s in open access, so there are no excuses!.

The authors speak of incidence, pathophysiology, risk factors, clinic features, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.

More days on mechanical ventilation, increased ICU and hospital stay, major sequels, higher costs and increased mortality. We are talking about an issue of general interest.

Several keys are given to the prevention: aggressive treatment if the patient is septic, early mobilization, prevent hyperglycemia, and avoid the use of parenteral nutrition during the first week of illness.

Recovery is progressive, although weakness may persist in time further than the 2 years post-ICU admittance and this contributes to the risk of dying during the first year after discharge.

What happens when a patient leaves ICU? It would seem logical to think that we have to bet on improving the quality of life of our patients, not just the fact to help them extend it.

ICU admittance is not for free in the majority of cases. For this reason, one of the lines of research from the IC-HU Project will be the study and management of the post-ICU syndrome.

We must work as a team and investigate, and among all we will find the answers. Do you want to help us?.